Societe Generale Conducts Blockchain-Based Repo Transaction With French Central Bank

Societe Generale said it carried out a blockchain-based repurchase agreement with the Banque de France in what it called the first such tokenized transaction with a euro-zone central bank.

The lender's digital assets-focused subsidiary, SG-Forge, deposited as collateral some bonds issued in 2020 on the public Ethereum blockchain in exchange for central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by the Banque de France on its DL3S blockchain, it said in a press release.

With the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework already in place for stablecoin issuers, SG-Forge has maintained a high profile exploring ways to deploy its euro stablecoin, EUR CoinVertible (EURCV). The token was not involved in the repo transaction.

The Banque de France, meanwhile, has been energetically testing the feasibility of wholesale CBDCs to improve things like cross-border payments and settlement finality. Broadly speaking, blockchain-based repo transactions have proved to be one of the more compelling uses of the tech among banks.

“This transaction demonstrates the technical feasibility of interbank refinancing operations directly on blockchain. It illustrates the potential of a Central Bank Digital Currency to improve the liquidity of digital financial securities,” SocGen said in a press release.